Role Statement
The ANU is an education intensive research institute. The Head of Systems and
Desktop Services carries University-wide responsibilities for ensuring that the
systems and services needed to support the ANU community are reliable, robust
and integrated. While it is not about the technology, the smooth functioning of
enabling systems enhances research collaboration and promotes easy access to
information for self-directed learners/researchers by delivering information
where and when it is needed.
Strategic directions therefore focus on research and learner centred outcomes
through the provision of:
- Secure, reliable storage
- Flexible delivery of information
- Enabling collaboration
- Cost effective services
In 2009 there are a number of planned and continuing activities in support of
the broader strategic directions.
Planning Objectives for 2009
Secure, Reliable Storage
- The development of the interim LG Crisp Business Continuity site. The main
computer room in Leonard Huxley provides the university with a primary
production data facility that was built in the 1970s. The limited space to
accommodate the needs of Colleges and the recent hailstorms have raised the risk
profile of having a single data centre. The Leonard Huxley site represents a
single point of failure and the loss of the facility would have a major impact
on services to the University. The development of second data centre, to be made
available to the rest of the university, allows for a reduction in the number of
campus machine rooms together with the longer term goal that College systems are
supported in two major data centres. This is an interim solution designed to
relieve immediate pressures for the next four years and to mitigate some of the
current risks arising out of a single data centre. There is a longer term plan
for beyond 2011 to provide a more permanent solution.
- Improved security awareness programs for student and staff, with an
increased focus on user training and responsibility for data.
- Expansion of SAN storage services, offering hosted storage to local areas.
- Move to greater server virtualisation - allowing reduction in costs, rapid
deployment, and redundancy of server environments.
- Development of a data backup service for the campus.
- Authentication and Identity Management (IDM) services upgrades. The
upgrading and linking of services with the IDM will ensure appropriate access
rights for individuals.
Flexible Delivery of Information
- Investigation of virtual desktop environments. This will allow for the
delivery of the Student Information Commons Environment on to student and staff
desktops or laptops.
- Development of a mobile printing solution for students and staff within the
Library.
- Document scanning - as part of a renewal program, photocopiers will be
replaced with Multi-Functional Devices (MFD), to enable staff and students to
print, scan and photocopy on a single machine.
- Installation and development of support for the new Learning Management
System (LMS).
- The move to the Unified Directory Service (UDS) will allow staff to have
local College resources available in lecture theatres through networked drives.
Enabling Collaboration
- Development and deployment of Attribute Release Services to allow greater
participation in Shibboleth-enabled global services.
- Upgrade of the Alliance site to the latest version of Sakai providing a
greater range of toolsets and configuration options.
- Investigation of a single calendar and email solution for the University.
- Investigation of outsourced options like Google Docs for collaboration and
flexibility of access throughout the world.
Cost Effective Services
- Shared hosting of computing equipment in the two major data nodes across the
campus. More efficient cooling and storage leading to reduced costs and reduced
carbon footprint.
- Increased use of open source solutions in student and staff environments
such as the widespread deployment of Firefox, Open Office, Sakai and Kuali.
- Expansion of Unified Directory Service (UDS) leading to the ability to share
software packaging across the campus, a reduced number of active directory
domains, reduced administration, and simplification and unification of logins
for staff and students to an increased number of university services.
- Investigation into a campus wide helpdesk solution - leading to a single
point of contact for IT-related support issues for all shared services and
College domain IT services. Ability for IT staff across the campus to share
information in support of users.
- Centralised software licensing tracking - allowing for better compliance
management of software licenses, purchasing the correct number of licences
required, and the ability to share licenses between areas. Reduced delay in
software renewals as licence contracts are proactively monitored for expiry
dates.
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